Restoring Tron - Repairing

First, a couple more Tron restoration links: Peter Hirschberg’s gallery, and another from BYOAC.

Lots of cabinet repair progress this week. While most of the woodwork is in decent shape, the back was pretty shot (lots of water runoff) and the floor had seen better days. Time to repair what I could, and replace whatever couldn’t be repaired.

The back doors are trashed, many orders worse than the rest of the cabinet. I’m guessing that the previous owners each swapped out door sets for their other Trons, leaving the worst of the lot for mine. I’ll be building new doors in a later episode.

And speaking of rebuilding new doors, I broke down and bought a Ryobi jigsaw. While I don’t loathe the thing as much as the Home Depot reviewers do, it does have some issues. The jigsaw feels rugged enough, but the actual construction could use some improvement. On first use, the laser sight was misaligned and blade angle wouldn’t stay positioned; breaking down the bottom base and aligning and tightening everything helped, but I still have problems cutting a perfect line. I figured it was my lack of skill, but with the universally bad reviews, I may end up exchanging this one for another brand.

Sideart removal was just as easy as it was with the control panel. Slathered on the Citristrip, went to bed, and scraped the next morning. As you can see in the image below, the end result is something like a giant glob of chewing gum. Wiping down the cabinet with Goof Off afterward removed the final remaining bits.

The first complete piece! I’m impressed with the Phoenix Arcade reproductions, so far the quality is top notch. I tend to be pretty obsessive about proper alignment, so I went with the wet application method just in case things went a bit off-kilter. Happened to have a window film applicator kit handy, but windex or a squirt bottle with a dash of dishsoap added will also do the trick. Wet application is what you see window tinting guys do: spray the entire surface area lightly, then apply. This let me slide the artwork around a bit to get everything lined up just right along the main control panel area, then I wiped off the front and back lips and folded the rest of the artwork over. Finally, I ran over it a few times with the squeegee and clamped the edges to keep them down until the surface area was completely dry.

Finally, priming and bracing the interior. I decided to retain the original bottom piece, but added braces for some extra strength. Additionally, the braces will serve as risers onto which I’ll mount the power supply board, bringing it up from the floor of the cabinet.

The big Bob Roberts parts order came in:

• used Midway Service Panel
• 8 ohm 15 watt shielded 6X9 speaker x2
• Set of 4 Black steel cabinet corner protectors
• Video game leg levelers (4)
• Video game leg leveler mounting plates
• K4900 19″ color cap kit
• Tron MCR 4″ SCSI cables
• Tron/MCR Replacement Video Cable
• Tron Lithium Battery Conversion Kit
• Lock set keyed alike 641 (1)1 1/8″ & (2) 7/8″
• cable clamp assortment bag of 25 each size (100 total)
• cable clamp pan head screws 1/2in (100) black
• .084 Plug & receptacle 3 position w pins & sockets
• xcelite flushcutter
• (and bonus, they sent along a free wire stripper for lagniappe!)

Next time: sanding, and then some more sanding!

King of Kong 2.

Come with me if you want to live.

link love 08-22-08

Alongside the very kick ass Bionic Commando Rearmed OST, Sumthing has also released the original NES soundtrack. It’s three bucks, go get it.

Retro Space, the newest entry into the pre-built MAME cabinet scene. These things are supposed to sell for around 5000-6000 Euros (I think that’s like $40,000 or something these days). Kinda nice, but not that nice.

Speaking of paying lots of money for your games, here is Rotheblog’s writeup on the 15 most valuable classic arcade games.

And finally, Multiple:Option has released the newest version of Game Trivia Catechism DS (the iPhone version we’re working on is an expanded branch of this). It’s one of two apps he’s entering into the NeoFlash Summer Coding Compo, so wish him luck!

Restoring TRON - Stripping!

The security bolts on the joystick were gummed up and rusted, so I had to carefully dremel out the nubs on each bolt, a tense affair as original TRON joysticks are not cheap. Luckily, everything else came apart without issue.

The control panel plastics cleaned up quite well. After soaking the handle, buttons, and spinner in a bucket of warm water and auto detergent for a couple hours, I scrubbed away the many many years of dirt and grime. Particularly notable was the wad of solidified gum that had to be scrapped off with a razor.

Here’s the before:

And after a good solid cleanin’:

I highly recommend Citristrip for removing stubborn and baked on control panel overlays. It has a consistency of sludge, doesn’t reek like most solvents, and didn’t feel like it was going to immediately burn my hands off if I got some on me (still, wear gloves, it’s powerful stuff). After a liberal coating with a cheap paintbrush, I let the panel sit overnight. The next morning, the old CPO and paint slid right off. Followed that with a wipe down of Goof Off to remove the last bits of adhesive, and then sanded the panel and applied a coat of primer. Here’s the CP immediately after using the Citristrip:

The monitor! A Well-Gardner K4900, it originally came out of a horizontal game, as there’s a slightly noticeable bit of burn-in, but not enough burn-in for me to identify the source. As the cardboard bit on the end of the neck states, someone replaced the caps in 1997, but I figure it’s a good idea to replace them now again anyway while I’ve got the monitor out of the cabinet.

An arcade cabinet is deceptively simple. It’s like a big model, really. As long as you can get ahold of a parts list and schematics, you can put one of these together. Still, label everything. If you’re not sure, label it. Or even if you are sure, label it.

Parts order update:

• Phoenix Arcade reproduction TRON art
  (inner art, marquee, shroud art, CPO, spinner decal, and joystick insert)
• CP and joystick assembly nuts ‘n bolts kit (thanks for the lead, Jeff!)
• 18inch fluorescent light fixture for upper rear cabinet
• starters for the 3 original fixtures
• Various sundries for stripping, painting, and repair
  (Bondo, putty knives, satin black spraypaint for metal bits, etc)

The next parts update will be the big one, as I’m preparing to write up orders from Bob Roberts and Arcadeshop now.

Restoring TRON

Here’s where I document the restoration of my TRON cabinet, a time honored tradition shared by many other owners across the internet.

I intend to strip down the entire machine, repair and paint the cabinet, replace all artwork, and clean up and fix any mechanical or wiring issues that remain. When I’m done, this TRON should be damn close to like-new condition.

(Cyberball is next, but that one is gonna be a bit more of a challenge)

I began the teardown this weekend, removed most of the fixtures and exterior bits, and sanded and repainted half the brackets. Discharging the monitor, something I’ve honestly been dreading for years, was a nonevent, and I’ll be pulling that and the boards out next.

I’ll list out my parts purchases as I go, partly with the intention of tracking how much I really end up sinking into this, and partly to make things easier for the next poor soul who wanders by with a restoration project.

Initial parts orders:

• Rear screen art
• T-molding (40 ft)
• 4 f15t8/cw fluorescent lamps (2 spares)
• 2 f15t8/bl fluorescent lamps (very nice price, 1 spare)
• 2 f15t8/blb fluorescent lamps
• Polaris 651 High Voltage Probe

link love 08-15-08

Arcade Mania, the new book on the Japanese arcade scene by Brian Ashcraft and Jean Snow, is now available for pre-order, at a very reasonable fourteen bucks. There’s also a Flickr group.

Jason Scott shares some neat Karateka trivia. I have no idea if the trick worked on the Atari 8-bit version, but then again I never tried putting the disk in upside-down.

Multiwinia trailer!

Also from Dtoid, Games time forgot: Space Ace. Poe’s Pizza, the place we’d trek to and burn our allowance on, had Space Ace in it’s lineup for quite some time. Still, for a kid on a limited budget, laserdisc titles were several places down the preferability list, as playtime could be painfully brief until you mastered the game.

Hey wow, SEGA discovered a roomfull of games, from back when SEGA games were good. /TEAR 9-9-99 NEVER FORGET

The TRON design documents.

I came across this fascinating collection of documents last night while digging around some of the less-travelled corners of the internet, searching for specs and background on the TRON cabinet I’m restoring.

This following bit, from Dave Nutting’s response after attending the TRON design meeting, is particularly wonderful, and shows how little things in the game industry have really changed:

(by the way, Bill is Bill Adams, designer and developer of the game, and George is George Gomez, visual designer, and the guy responsible for the look of the cabinet)

Anyway, here are the goods. The design documents, outlining the seven (!) mini-games and basic gameplay features, a couple Disney memos regarding assets, and Dave Nutting’s followup mail about the game to Dave Marofske, then President of Midway.

TRON Design Document: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
Disney memos: [1, 2]
Daving Nutting mail [1, 2]
…or just download the whole collection.

An evening at EVO 2008.

Yesterday was day two of the EVO Championship Series, a yearly fighting game tournament hosted here in Las Vegas. While I wasn’t a competitor (I’m a solidly average 2D fighter player), I dropped by for several hours to take in the scene, see the new games, and to watch the midnight screening of Bang the Machine, a documentary following the participants of a Street Fighter series tournament, all vying for a spot on the team that would be traveling to Japan and representing the United States in further matches.

So, the new games.

Capcom had delivered ten head-to-head Viewlix cabinets for the event, arranged in an outward facing circle near the center of the BYOC (Bring Your Own Console) play area. Eight of the cabinets were running Street Fighter IV, and the final two were builds of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, a game I hadn’t seen much of prior to last night but ultimately my favorite of the bunch. Additionally, an Xbox 360 kiosk was running Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and I’d heard that Arc was on hand the day before with BlazBlue, although it was unfortunately gone by the time I arrived.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is looking great. Something like the fighting game version of Super Robot Wars, the game pits characters from various Capcom properties against Tatsunoko Production’s lineup. So far, less than a dozen of the playable characters have been revealed, but the character select screen seemed to be built for a whole lot more. Assuming licensing talks go well (the reason there’s never been a US release of the Super Robot Wars games), it could be quite the collection. I hope Mospeada, Southern Cross, or any of the other Robotech licenses are represented.

Pictures and video after the jump!
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link love 08-07-08

The Game Libratory. Library plus laboratory, the project aims to collect gaming hardware from the entire history of our industry, assembling it all in one place where it can be accessed for cultural studies and scientific use (and hopefully a LAN party or two). [via andre]

Matt Barton and Bill Loguidice’s excellent A History of Gaming Platforms series continues on Gamasutra, this time with a personal favorite of mine, the Atari 8-Bit Computer. A book is in the works.

The Last Guy, available soon on PSN, is a clever rescue the civilians during the zombie apocalypse game that uses real-world satellite maps for the gameplay stages. As a promo, they’ve released a web version that builds the play level from a submitted web address.

Looking to fill out your Sega collection? CAG nebrazca78 is auctioning off a ton of Genesis, 32X, and Master System gear. I’m gonna keep an eye on a couple of those 32X titles.

Game Trivia Catechism: iPhone teaser

Here are a few shots from Catechism Mode, one of the game types in the upcoming Game Trivia Catechism for iPhone. Based on GTC DS, this new iPhone version will feature expanded gameplay, multiplayer modes, and even more trivia questions. Developed by Thuyen Nguyen, Josh Martin, and me, GTC will be a free appstore release sometime this fall.

We’re looking for a talented chiptunes-style musician or two to contribute original music for the project, if that’s you or someone you know, please let us know!